Expertos dicen que virus como el Zika son habituales, piden rebajar alarma

Especialistas en enfermedades infecciosas y en microbiología clínica afirmaron hoy que virus como el Zika o el enterovirus conviven con los humanos, son habituales y solo afectan gravemente a una pequeña parte de la población, por lo que pidieron rebajar la alarma social creada.

Más de 1.400 especialistas participan desde hoy en Barcelona (noreste) en el XX Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica (Seimc), donde debatirán sobre las nuevas enfermedades infecciosas emergentes y su resistencia a los antibióticos.

Los virus se dispersan “muy rápido, son dinámicos y van evolucionado”, explicó el presidente del Seimc, Rafael Cantó, quien también recordó que la alarma creada por los últimos casos de Zika es demasiado grande porque los casos graves sólo afectan a una pequeña parte de la población.

Cantó detalló que “las ondas epidémicas de microorganismos son de periodo estacional”, es decir, varían según las estaciones y su aparición no depende de un único factor.

Otro caso que ha causado alarma social durante el último mes en España ha sido el de un brote de enterovirus que ha afectado a sesenta menores de la región de Cataluña (noreste), diecisiete de los cuales están hospitalizados, cuatro de ellos en unidades de cuidados intensivos.

Los enterovirus son un tipo de virus que circulan ampliamente entre la población, especialmente en niños, producen mayoritariamente cuadros leves (fiebre, malestar o erupciones cutáneas), a menudo son infecciones asintomáticas y en su mayoría no provocan alteraciones neurológicas.

Sin embargo, el subtipo más grave del virus ha causado un cuadro de tetraplejia en una niña en Barcelona.

Respecto a este brote, Jordi Villa, microbiólogo y presidente del comité científico del congreso, comentó que “hay más de cien” tipos de este virus que afecta continuamente a los niños, sin desarrollar gravedad.

“Siempre ha habido casos esporádicos” de enterovirus y es necesario “investigar el microorganismo al detalle”, defendió el presidente del comité científico.

Tanto el infectólogo y vicepresidente del Seimc, José Miguel Cisneros, como el presidente del comité organizador, José María Miró, pusieron especial hincapié en la prevención ante un posible contagio de virus del Zika o de otros virus que se transmitan por mosquitos.

“Al igual que pasa con el enterovirus, el Zika tiene síntomas leves que en pocos casos se agrava”, afirmó Miró.

Memory on early Alzheimer’s is not fully lost

Alzheimer’s disease leads to tragic memory deficits, but it's not clear whether those memories are actually lost. It's also not clear whether this is a problem with memory formation and storage or a problem in memory retrieval. This is clinically relevant, since memory retrieval could potentially be restored by targeted brain stimulation.

New work using mouse models of early Alzheimer’s disease just showed that the problem at least starts with memory retrieval. Strikingly, it can also be reversed provided the correct set of neurons is activated.

Engrams are the traces of the paths that memories leave as they settle in the brain. They are present both in our psyches and in biochemical alterations present in our neurons. Molecular, genetic, and optogenetic methods have been used to try to identify the population of neurons that hold onto these engrams.

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Remedios para disolver cálculos renales

Las piedras en el riñón (como se las conoce popularmente) son realmente muy dolorosas y no tienen un momento especial para “aparecer”. Formados por sales minerales y de ácido que se acumulan en el aparato urinario cuando no es posible procesar las toxinas de manera adecuada, los cálculos renales pueden eliminarse gracias a varios remedios caseros e hierbas diuréticas.

Otra de las razones por las que se pueden formar las piedras en los riñones es cuando la orina está demasiado concentrada. Entonces, los minerales que la forman se cristalizan y como consecuencia, crean una “piedra”. Este proceso genera mucho dolor sobre todo al momento de expulsarlas por el tracto urinario.

Según los estudios, los hombres sufren más de cálculos renales que las mujeres, sobre todo entre los 20 y los 40 años. Hay una gran relación entre estos pacientes y los que padecen de la enfermedad de gota. Si bien el mejor método de prevenir la formación de piedras en los riñones es beber 8 vasos de agua por día, lo cierto es que en muchos casos hay una tendencia a padecerlas y se precisa de tratamientos adicionales.

Para evitar que ocurran, es preferible espaciar el consumo de chocolate, café, refrescos cola, remolacha, nuez, espinaca, fresa, té y salvado, ya que contienen un elemento que podrían ayudar a la formación de piedras. A su vez, no llevar una dieta con mucha cantidad de proteínas, sodio y azúcar ayudará a revertir la situación.

Hierbas Diuréticas

Bebiendo estas plantas en forma de té o infusión, es posible acelerar los procesos del aparato urinario, evitando que se desarrollen los cálculos o bien si se padece de ellos, eliminarlos por orina. Los más usados son:

• Perejil: permite la expulsión de esa arenilla que genera luego dolor, es uno de los mejores diuréticos que existe porque incrementa la micción. La proporción es de una cucharadita de perejil seco en una taza de agua hirviendo. Beber varias veces al día.
• Ortiga: aumenta la cantidad de orina y ayuda a evitar la formación de piedras o expulsarlas cuando son de tamaño pequeño.
• Diente de león: estimulante de la producción de orina por excelencia, es muy buena a su vez para evitar la retención de líquidos o la hidropesía. También se recomienda para limpiar la sangre, como ser en casos de colesterol, diabetes o hipertensión. Beber 3 tazas al día de una infusión que se realiza con las hojas secas de la planta.
• Verbena: para poder aprovechar sus bondades se aconseja consumir de 2 a 3 tazas por día de una infusión preparada con una cucharadita de verbena seca por taza de agua, que se deja reposar unos diez minutos y se endulza con miel.

Otros Remedios

Estos tratamientos caseros son muy eficaces y a su vez, sencillos de preparar porque se realizan con ingredientes que tenemos en la cocina o que se adquieren en tiendas naturistas. Algunos de ellos son:

• Beber cuando aparecen los primeros síntomas de dolor un vaso de zumo de limón recién exprimido mezclado con un huevo. En lo posible que se consuma en ayunas.
• Beber una infusión hecha con hojas de aguacate y mucha cantidad de zumo de manzana exprimido en el momento.
• Consumir algas fucus todos los días (puede ser en las comidas o bien como pastillas).
• Mezclar medio litro de leche caliente con la misma cantidad de vino. Quitar la nata y añadir un puñado de flores de manzanilla. Llevar al fuego hasta que se disuelva y beber una taza por día, principalmente cuando comienza el cólico.
• Hervir jengibre fresco en un litro de agua por cerca de diez minutos. Embeber en un paño y aplicar de manera tópica en el área de los riñones (la parte baja de la espalda) o bien donde se sienta dolor.
• Cortar tres rábanos en rodajas, colocar en una taza con agua y añadir una cucharada de azúcar. Dejar durante 12 horas y colar (se obtiene un jarabe). Beber en ayunas dos cucharadas hasta que se expulsen las piedras.
• Hervir durante 5 minutos un puñado de semillas de sandía con agua. Dejar enfriar y beber una taza por día para que se eliminen naturalmente los cálculos de los riñones.

Study finds anti-AIDS vaginal ring partially protects women

Researchers say women who inserted a vaginal ring coated with an anti-AIDS drug once a month were partially protected against HIV infection.

Two large studies in Africa found the effect was modest, reducing overall HIV infection by about a third. But surprisingly, the ring worked far better in women 25 and older, leaving researchers wondering if younger women who got little to no benefit simply didn't use the device properly.

Scientists have long sought tools to help women protect themselves from HIV when their partners won't use a condom. While researchers debate the age disparity, the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides said it plans to seek regulatory approval for more use of the ring in parts of hard-hit Africa.

Study results are being presented at the Retrovirus Conference in Boston.

Hitler suffered from genital deformity, historian claims

Adolf Hitler had a genital deformity that made his penis remarkably small, according to a historian citing previously unknown medical records.

It had been long acknowledged that the fascist had an undescended testicle, but the new revelation could shed light on his maniacal personality.

“Hitler himself is believed to have had two forms of genital abnormality: an undescended testicle and a rare condition called penile Hypospadius in which the urethra opens on the underside of the penis,” according to historians Jonathan Mayo and Emma Craigie’s book “Hitler’s Last Day: Minute by Minute.”

The condition is often accompanied by an undescended testicle, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Patients “could have problems with abnormal spraying of urine and might have to sit to urinate,” according to the CDC’s description of the deformity.

“In some boys with hypospadias, the testicle has not fully descended into the scrotum. If hypospadias is not treated it can lead to problems later in life, such as difficulty performing sexual intercourse or difficulty urinating while standing.”

The dictator’s personal doctor Theodor Morell used to give Hitler hormones, amphetamines and cocaine in hopes of boosting the Fuehrer’s sex drive, historians said.

Charlie Sheen 's HIV disclosure had big online impact, study says

A new study looks at the public health impact of actor Charlie Sheen's disclosure that he has the virus that causes AIDS.

It found that Sheen's revelation Nov. 17 prompted the greatest number of HIV-related Google searches recorded in the United States since 2004. More than 1 million of them involved public health-related information, including searches for symptoms and testing.

The researchers analyzed Google trends data along with news trends from 2004 until three weeks after Sheen's announcement.

They found there were more than 6,500 HIV-related news stories on Google News alone on Nov. 17. That reversed a decade-long decline in news reporting about the virus.

A plea for help in Brazil city where Zika first confirmed

Camacari was in chaos, its hospitals overflowing with sick people desperate to know what was happening to them, never suspecting theirs would be the first confirmed cases of Zika in Brazil.

In the city where the virus made its explosive debut in early 2015, anxious residents asked themselves: Was it dengue? An allergic reaction to contaminated water?

The "mysterious" disease, people called it, while medical reports referred to it as "undetermined eczematous syndrome," noting the skin irritation associated with it.

"My two children and I got sick. In my neighborhood, nearly everybody became infected," said Vanessa Machado dos Santos, who makes a living selling coconut water in this torrid city, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Salvador in the northeastern state of Bahia.

"Our skin began to itch, we had fever, headaches and body aches, a lot of pain in our joints," she told AFP.

Sometime later, the 35-year-old was told that what she was feeling was caused by the Zika virus, but she still had her doubts.

"Nobody knew much about it -- that it was like dengue, that it was carried by mosquitos, that it came from another country. We heard a lot of stories about the famous Zika," she said.

"Was I scared? Of course! We didn't know what was coming next. You are always afraid of the unknown."

- Plea for help -

It was April 2015 and the hospitals were inundated in this city of 200,000.

Antonio Carlos Bandeira, a doctor at the Santa Helena hospital, thought the syndrome had to be identified with urgency, so he contacted Gubio Soares, a virologist he knew at the Federal University of Bahia.

There were so many cases at the time, that the call to Soares was "truly a plea for help," Bandeira recalled.

Judging by the symptoms and explosive contagion -- "there were entire buildings full of sick people," Bandeira said -- they assumed it was an arbovirus, the generic name for viruses transmitted by insects or other animals, like dengue or chikungunya.

In his laboratory at the university's Institute of Health Sciences, Soares and his colleague Silvia Sardi focused on 20 samples from patients in Camacari.

They hit upon the villain: Zika, which was first identified in 1947 in Africa, and had surfaced in the Pacific islands in 2007 and 2013, but with limited impact.

"I had read interesting studies on Zika. Parallel to that, I saw pictures of people infected with the virus. I discussed it with Silvia Sardi, we did the tests and they were conclusive," he said.

"And that's how we identified it for the first time in Brazil."

That was on April 28, 2015. The next day, Brazilian health officials made the finding public.

- Self-diagnosis via TV -

At around the same time, Lucienne Ferrera was feeling sick. She had rashes on her skin, some fever and little energy to work at her poultry store in Candeias, 30 kilometers from Camacari.

"I had itching, fever and discomfort all day. But at night, watching the news on television, they said there was a new virus, Zika. That's how I found out," she said with a laugh.

"Later when I went to the doctor, he told me he didn't know about it. So even for them it was a mystery."

From Brazil, the virus has spread rapidly through the Americas. It is believed to have arrived in the country during the World Cup in mid-2014, with the first cases, only confirmed later, occurring in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

Still to be determined is whether the virus, as researchers suspect, is responsible for a surge in cases of microcephaly, an untreatable condition in which babies are born with small heads and brains.

A year after the outbreak in Brazil, Zika remains a mystery, with no known vaccine, and many other countries now feeling its effect.